Long-term success is only achieved with persistence

Jul. 16, 2013

Written by

Tom Black

For The Tennessean

Calvin Coolidge said, “Nothing in the world will take the place of persistence. Talent will not; the world is full of unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

There are at least two types of persistence. Today, I want to talk about long-term persistence. As a salesperson or an entrepreneur, we need to embrace the idea of long-term persistence. Persistence is not something you do for a week, a month or even a year. It’s something you do every day over your whole career.

Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, had that kind of persistence. Starbucks was founded in 1971. Sixteen years later, the company had fewer than 10 stores. Who among us would have that kind of persistence and patience? Today, Starbucks has more than 18,000 stores in 62 countries and more than 200,000 employees.

As salespeople, many times we expect immediate success. Most of the time it doesn’t happen that way. The greatest, most wealthy and successful salespeople I know understand this. Their attitude is that the only kind of success is long-term success. In certain cultures, young bulls are tested by how many times they will charge the prick of a lance. We must be like these young bulls and charge the prick of the lance again and again.

Steve Jobs had this type of long-term persistence. Jobs was an orphan, adopted by a couple with an average income. His dad was a machinist, and the two worked on electronics as a hobby in their garage.

In high school, Jobs worked at HP assembling computers. After he dropped out of Reed College, he went to work at Atari designing games. It’s estimated that when he and Steve Wozniak founded Apple in 1976, he had spent more than 10,000 hours preparing for making Apple computers. He was a genius, but he also had long-term persistence. Genius without persistence wouldn’t have accomplished as much.

When he was fired as Apple’s CEO, he didn’t quit the business world; instead, he eventually returned to Apple to help create one of the most valuable companies in the world. As salespeople, we need the same kind of value system. We have to believe in ourselves and our own vision, regardless of our immediate circumstances or results.

As Kipling said in his poem “If”: “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance, run. Yours is the earth and everything that’s in it, and — which is more — you’ll be a man my son.”

At some point in sales, we always face a defeat. A defeat is short-term. The Grand Canyon was formed one drip at a time. Think of your career in that perspective and short-term defeats mean nothing.

Sales consultant Tom Black hopes to provide a touch of humor, inspiration and motivation for those along for the ride in the roller-coaster career of sales. Learn more at www.tomblack. com. Questions or comments? Email tom.black@bancsourceinc.com.